Brussels Airport gets “anti-terrorism” unit

Main objective: to intercept terrorists and prevent them from acting

According to Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique, Brussels Airport will receive a rapid response team, according to the office of Interior Minister Jan Jambon. This special police force must act quickly and accurately in extreme circumstances. This team will probably be effective in early 2017.

Minister Jambon announced last month to another newspaper, Het Laatste Nieuws, that he would give the airport a shield of cameras to monitor all roads in the area. These cameras can read license plates and identify suspicious vehicles. A small team of police officers can therefore rapidly evaluate the situation. These officers will not be ordinary police but a team specially trained for this mission (including techniques for special arrest).

This new rapid response squad is equipped with bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets, semi-automatic weapons and weapons called “less lethal” which use plastic bullets to neutralize an aggressive suspect without killing him.

They are the first to intervene in suspicious situations at the airport. Depending on the circumstances, they can respond immediately or as an emergency team to intervene in support of elite units. Their mission should begin in the first weeks of 2017.